Public contracting,policy preferences and minority business enterprises

About three years ago a Special Issue of the International Journal of Public Administration focused on the topic “Government Set-Asides, Minority Business Development, and Publi Contracting.”^(l) Much of the discussion in the issue addressed race conscious government set-aside programs in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. ⁽²⁾ The decision declared unconstitutional a local government minority business set-aside provision designed to help minority business enterprises (MBEs) obtain government contracts. At the time, the decision was applicable only to state and local governmental jurisdictions.⁽³⁾ Government set-asides involve the practice of providing minority contractors and subcontracting a certain percentage of a public jurisdiction's contract dollars.

In 1995 the Supreme Court in Adarand v. Pena ⁽⁴⁾ extended the Croson ruling to include set-aside programs in federal agencies. This Special Issues examines and discusses the Adarand decision and the developments that have followed. The first article by Mitchell F. Rice, “Federal Set-Asides Policy and Minority Business Contracting: Understanding the Adarand Decision,” reviews the Adarand decision and discusses the implications of the decision for minority business development. The next article by Audrey L. Mathews and Mitchell F. Rice, “Adarand v. Pena: Turning Challenges Into Opportunities,” uses a case study of two public preference programs to suggest how Adarand requirements may be successfully utilized to maintain set-aside preference programs.

The third article by Shelton Rhodes, “Mirmative Action Review ‘Report’ to the Presidents: Implications of Military Affirmative Actions Programs to Current and New Millennium Affirmative Action Programs,” reviews the Affirmative Action Review: Report to the President which was ordered by President Clinton soon after the Adarand decision. Rhodes considers the implications of the possible applicability of the successes of affirmative action and equal opportunity in the military, which is highlighted in the Report, to other public and private organizations. The final article by Wilbur C., Rich, “Presidents and Minority Set-Aside Policy: Race, Gender and Small Opportunities,” analyzes the impact of presidential leadership on minority set-asides policy and shows how politicians use set-asides to facilitate exchanges and cooperation with the business elites.     

The changing nature of urban affirmative action programs: the search for race-neutral alternatives

In January, 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court cast in doubt the legality of minority set-aside programs. The Court required government set-aside programs to meet a “strict-scrutiny” standard of review and required cities to first explore race-neutral means for increasing minority firm participation prior to utilizing any type of rigid quota system. This paper examines how four cities have reacted quite differently, with some cities continuing old practices, and others developing a mixture of new policies and implementation structures. It is argued that the Supreme Court's decision will have only a minor impact on minority contracting programs, with cities seeking to combine affirmative action contracting programs with those that stress economic development.     

Measuring the impact of set-aside programs on the minority business sector

In addition to remedying discrimination, set-aside programs can play an important role in minority business development. While it is understood that set-aside programs have positive impacts on the minority business sector, the magnitude of these impacts has not been explored. This study is an econometric analysis of the economic impacts within the minority business sector that are attributable to City of Chicago spending with minority-owned firms. Where appropriate, and to better operate as business development tools, set-aside programs should target the emerging lines of minority enterprise, include Target Market Programs, and contain provisions for debundling large contracts.     

State and local government set-aside programs and minority business development in the post-croson era: the efficacy of disparity studies

Since the Supreme Court's decision in City I of Richmond v. J. A. Croson in early 1989, disparity studies or minority business studies or discrimination studies have become a focal point in state and local government jurisdictions' Minority Business Enterprise set-aside policies. Disparity studies have been conducted in more than sixty jurisdictions around the United States. This article discusses (1) the status of MBE set-aside programs after Croson, (2) examines the efficacy of disparity studies as mechanisms for justifying the adoption or continuation of set-aside programs in state and local governmental jurisdictions, (3) provides discussion of specific procedural analyses which have been major components of a disparity study and (4) provides a summary discussion of disparity studies conducted in five jurisdictions. The conclusion notes several weaknesses of disparity studies that, if addressed, would enhance their utilty.     

Federal set-asides policy and minority business contracting: understanding the adarand decision

In Adarand Constructors v. Pena ⁽¹⁾, the Supreme Court ruled that federal affirmative action preference programs must undergo the “strict scrutiny” standard. A program subject to strict scrutiny is one that cannot pass muster under the Constitution's “equal protection” mandate unless there is a “compelling government interest” in its objectives and the program is “narrowly tailored” to meet the objectives. This paper reviews the Adarand decision and discusses the implications of the decision for minority business federal contracting.     

Presidents and minority set-aside policies: race,gender and small opportunities

This essay analyzes the impact of presidential leadership on minority set-asides policy. It traces the origins of the policy and shows how presidents have both promoted and reacted to changes in public opinion. It also shows how local politicians use set-asides to facilitate exchanges and cooperation with the business elites. The termination of set-aside policies will lead to a negative effect on government efforts to incorporate minorities into the economic mainstream.     

Can Business Rights Alleviate Group-Based Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa? Understanding the Limits to Reform

Abstract

Africa’s indigenous minorities face unique constraints, particularly in terms of engaging in even the most basic business activities. They typically lack business rights, but, even where such rights have been extended, they have had scant impact on group poverty. This paper argues that the failure of business rights to meaningfully transform the livelihoods of marginalised minority groups stems from elite capture of resources, dependency on external validation, and a contradiction between a collective problem (group poverty) and an individualist solution (business rights). African states could alter conditions through active pursuit of affirmative action policies, but lack socio-economic and political incentives.     

Federal contract policy and management: the small business administration 8(A) program

The federal Small Business Administration's 8(a) program raises issues of minority business empowerment and effective policy implementation. Given the role of enterprise in both addressing the historical and contemporary problems of minority economic and community development and in empowering minority communities, and given the current nature, extent and distribution of minority, particularly African-American business establishments, the performance of the 8(a) program as a substantial infusion of capital and experience into the African-American community is essential. According to a recent report of the Commission on Minority Business Development, the 8(a) is seriously flawed in the management of the problem. Regulation and enforcement, coordination, evaluation and monitoring and accountability are serious challenges to the viability of the program. Entrepreneurial empowerment is enhanced not only by effective policy development but also be effective policy implementation of the 8(a) and other set-aside programs.     

Has Public Administration Grown Up? A Case for Class-Related Education and Research

Abstract

This article contends that public administration has not grown up because the discipline has yet to address adequately the issue of social class. To this end, public administration education programs and research programs must be refocused. A number of concrete proposals are made along these lines. It is pointed out that affirmative action was never intended to address discrimination and injustice associated with social class, and now the field has an opportunity to lay the basis for filling this void.     

The CROSON decision and the demise of set-ASIDES: a national survey

This research examines the policy response to City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Company and explores the impact of the decision on minority business enterprises (MBEs) one year after the decision was handed down. This is done by focusing on dollars spent on MBEs and on how localities differ based on region and percent minority population. For most of the cities studied, dollars spent on minority business enterprises had not declined one year after Croson. Various means of securing spending such as the disparity study and race/gender neutral goal progams explain why such is the case. The need for further study is cited in order to determine the impact of multi-year contracts and to see if race and gender neutral goal programs are as effective as “set-asides” in targeting minority as well as non-minority small businesses.     

Social policy 2000: affirmative action

Empirical research, summarized here, clearly establishes that racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience substantial discrimination in employment. However, this discrimination is often subtle and unconscious. Because discriminatory practices are so intertwined with apparently-neutral employment practices, affirmative action remains an important means of combating them. Properly designed, affirmative action can benefit employers and non-protected employees as well as the minorities directly covered.     

Adarand v. pena: turning challenges into opportunities

This article provides a historical and legal overview of preference and set-aside programs. Further, the barriers and driving forces that have influenced preference programs are discussed. Finally, the processes, strategies, programs, and criteria employed at the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to meet the test of strict scrutiny in Adarand, will be explored and analyzed as alternatives for preference programs.     

Prayers,pilgrimages and petitions: The secret church and the growth of civil society in Slovakia

The historical feud between Hungary and Romania over Transylvania has escalated in proportion and intensity in recent years. Territorial dispute is no longer central to the present debate. Rather, it is the treatment of approximately two million¹ ethnic Hungarians residing in Transylvania that has generated considerable tension between the governments of Janos Kadar and Nicolae Ceausescu. Transylvania's ethnic Hungarians represent an obstacle to Ceausescu's policy of “national communism,” which promotes “Romanianism” to the detriment of the country's minority populations. In Hungary, reformists both within and outside the Kadar government have pressed the regime for a satisfactory solution to the perceived mistreatment of Hungarians living in neighboring socialist countries. By complicating relations between the two countries, the nationality question also effectively limits the degree to which Hungary and Romania can cooperate succesfully on regional endeavors. Finally, particularly in the case of Romania, exacerbation of the nationality question has attracted increased concern among “external” players, including the Soviet Union and the United States.     

Shifting linkages in ethnic mobilization: the case of RMDSZ and the Hungarians in Transylvania

The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) has been the most stable actor in the Romanian party system over the past two decades. However, in this article, we argue that beyond this apparent stability, the linkages between RMDSZ and its voters have undergone a gradual, yet significant shift. The ethnic block voting of Transylvanian Hungarians was closely connected to the concept of a self-standing and parallel “Minority Society,” and to the practices of institution building that the minority elites engaged in in the early 1990s. However, since its first participation in the Romanian government in 1996, RMDSZ has gradually departed from this strategy, a phenomenon that was also closely connected to a process of elite change within the organization. The present RMDSZ leadership puts less and less emphasis on policy programs that could reinforce the institutional system of the minority; consequently, it is unable (and unwilling) to organizationally integrate the community activists of the minority society who previously had played a key role in the process of (electoral) mobilization. At the rhetorical level, RMDSZ did not abandon the goal of building a parallel Hungarian minority society, but in its linkages to the Hungarian electorate, clientelistic exchanges have become predominant.     

The Limits of the German Minority Project in Post-communist Poland: Scale,Space and Democratic Deliberation

This paper explores the development of the German minority community in postcommunist Poland, focusing specifically upon the Opole Silesia voivodship. I argue that the minority's successful engagement within democratic fora at all spatial scales allowed the minority to voice its concerns and secure funds to develop its community infrastructure. However, as the 1990s progressed, the minority's ability to manipulate a politics of scale declined as the policy objectives of key allies were achieved or reformulated. Furthermore, the changing contours of the minority–majority relationship within Poland have exposed significant cleavages within the minority, bringing into question the continued relevance of the German minority political party for the constituency it claims to represent. Introduction The emergence in Europe of a new minority rights regime, adhered to by Poland as part of its desire to “return to Europe” and join the European Union, has created a legislative framework that aims to ensure that members of national minority populations can enjoy substantively the same rights as the majority. The most significant legislation in this area is the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995), ratified by Poland in December 2000. The “guarantees” of this new regime, in order to be substantiated, require minorities to be able to mobilise sufficient political capital in order to have their rights (social, cultural, economic) taken into account, both within and without democratic fora. In Poland the most successful minority has been the German minority, which, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, was able to forge up-scale links with powerful allies such as the German government, the Union of Expellees and the Association of Compatriots. As the 1990s unfolded, these links weakened, in part because of the substantial progress made by the minority in gaining the recognition they had been aiming for, but also owing to the changing policies of allies as their own goals were achieved or reformulated.     

Public administrators and policy legitimization: Policy analysis,politics and power

This article discusses the factors public administration faculty should incorporate into the curriculum in order to equip students to engage in the policy legitimization process. In order to produce leaders, public administration programs should emphasize the nature of the political system, an understanding of the legitimacy of subgovernments, the importance of coalition building and the psychological factors associated with policy choices.

Integration of policy analysis into the public administration curriculum requires that students be equipped with an in-depth understanding of both the political environment and the political process. This is true because public administrators are deeply involved in the stages of policy development, adoption, and implementation; activities which reach beyond the narrow confines of program management and into the realm of politics. Consequently, public administrators serve in a variety of capacities: as policy advocates, program champions, or as defenders of client interests. It is in these roles that public administrators move into the political arena. Policy analysis activities provide the discipline with the opportunity to move beyond an emphasis on a narrow concern with simply “managing” government and into the realm of policy choice, policy advocacy, political power and the exercise of leadership.

Public administration as a discipline, and teaching faculty in particular, face the challenge of increasing the relevance of the master's degree to policy leadership. Astrid Merget, past president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, expressed this need for increased emphasis on policy leadership training quite eloquently in 1991:

“Our vision of the holder of a master's degree in our field is that of a leader, not merely a manager or an analyst. But we have not been marketing that vision.”⁽¹⁾

Merget attributes partial responsibility for the low public esteem of government service to the attitudes, teaching, and research activities of public administration faculty who have failed to link the “lofty” activities of government (environmental protection, health care, the promotion of citizen equality) with public administration. Accordingly, the academic standard of “neutrality” governing teaching and research acts as an obstacle to teaching the fundamentals of the goals of public policy. This professional commitment to neutrality places an emphasis on administrative efficiency at the expense of policy advocacy. The need, according to Merget, is to reestablish the linkage between policy formulation and policy management. Such a teaching strategy will enhance the purposefulness of public administration as a career. Failure to do so will relegate public administration programs to the continued production of governmental managers, not administrative leaders.

The integration of policy analysis into the public administration curriculum affords the discipline with the opportunity to focus on policy leadership and escape the limitation associated with an emphasis on program management. Teaching policy analysis skills cannot, and should not, be divorced from the study of politics and the exercise of political power. This is true because politics involves the struggle over the allocation of resources, and public policy is a manifestation of the outcome of that political struggle. Public policy choices reflect, to some degree, the political power of the “winners” and the relative lack of power by “losers.” The study of public policy involves the study of conflict and the exercise of power.

Teaching public administration students about the exercise of power cannot be limited to a discussion of partisan political activities. Public administrators serve in an environment steeped in the exercise of partisan and bureaucratic power.⁽²⁾ It is practitioners of public administration who formulate, modify and implement public policy choices. Such bureaucratic activity is appropriate, provided that it is legitimated by the political system. Legitimacy can be provided to public administrators only by political institutions through the political process.

Teaching public administration students about policy analysis and policy advocacy necessitates an understanding of the complexities associated with the concepts of policy legitimacy and policy legitimization.     

The Burden of Caste on Social Identity in India

Abstract

This paper uses the World Values Survey to investigate the determinants of perceived social status in India. Caste is still the largest determinant, yet not the only one, as income, education and occupation are all relevant factors. However, only unlikely improvements in those economic attributes could offset the burden of being from a low caste or tribe on perceived social rank. This study is part of the literature that shows how the internalisation of prejudice and long-lasting discrimination may have impaired individuals’ self-esteem. The results stress the need to account for self-depreciation when assessing the efficiency of affirmative action policies.     

Civil Society,the Economy,and Educational Assistance in Former Soviet Republics

Abstract

Liberal democracies throughout the world are committed to civil society in support of market economics and democratic politics. Through educational assistance programs, the U.S. government demonstrates this commitment by attempting to reinvigorate civil society in former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries in support of their economic and political reform efforts. Of particular interest are the Community Connections and Partners in Education programs conducted by the U.S. Department of State for interns from the former Soviet republics or now Eurasia, who participate in business and other professional internships in various locations in the U.S., including Northern Alabama.     

Affirmative Action in Contemporary Brazil: Two Institutional Discourses on Race

In 2001, the State universities of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ and UENF) were the first Brazilian public universities to reserve 40% of their places for self-declared blacks (negros) and browns (pardos). In 2004, the University of Brasilia became the first federal university to implement an affirmative policy for black (negros) and indigenous people in Brazil. In the present article it is my intention to focus on contingent aspects in the making of these policies. While looking into both cases as two institutional discourses of race, I seek to challenge two common and equally problematic interpretations of the current race-assertive politics in Brazil, namely: (a) one that sees these affirmative action initiatives as the result of a kind of inevitable process towards the disclosure of Brazil’s hidden and actual plurality of “races;” (b) and another that, by contrast, conceives them as a sort of “imported model” that is not only imposed from abroad but also incompatible with the Brazilian symbolic order and system of racial classification.